Farmhouses of Brugherio

Isolated in the countryside (as Sant'Ambrogio, Guzzina and Occhiate) or unified in a rural agglomeration (as Cassina Baraggia and San Damiano), the farms were the core of peasant life. They had closed courts and shared architectural characteristics of farms on the plains north of Milan. In such designs, the yard was intended to functionally link the property, having a central role in the agricultural chain of production (as occurred in Po-valley companies). Around the courtyard, usually four very large buildings are opened: two porches on the ground floor, topped by a railing leading to the residential upper floor; the third belonged to stables and barns; and the fourth was originally made up of small rooms used as latrines. The houses were arranged properly—in the ground floor there was kitchen, pantry, closets and living room. Bedrooms are placed upstairs. At the center of the courtyard, one could find water well. == Agriculture ==

In Brugherio and its surroundings, agricultural properties were mostly small and divided, apart from a few exceptions, until the Napoleonic era. Polyculture (wheat, maize, beans, potatoes) prevailed, intended mainly for personal consumption rather than sale. == Farmhouses ==

Bindellera It was built in 1761 and it was a property of Viganone, a tape-seller. It had a big room at the ground floor where tuns were placed. Casecca Ca secca, as it was once called to emphasize the arid nature of the surrounding land, is located in the north-west of Brugherio, lapped by the irrigation ditch Manganella. It was property of the friars of the Passion of Milan, who built a church dedicated to St. Magdalene, until the end of 1700, and then it was moved to Pecchio Ghiringhelli's family. Recently it hosted the headquarters of the sports center La mongolfiera of GIVIDI club, The Guzzina is a complex of buildings that includes, within the town walls plastered with intense yellow, some agricultural courts, a villa owned by Count Venino and a private chapel dedicated to St. Andrew at the beginning, then to Santa Maria degli Angeli and finally to the Magi. Both the villa and the church date back to 1500. Increa The farm in Cré (Increa) is very old, dating back at least to the twelfth century In 1871 it was aggregated to the municipality of Brugherio, which was formed in 1866. The monks themselves with the fruits from the leasing and processing land of glances, handed out annually to the poor fifty bushels of wheat and ten amphorae of wine. Commissioned by the bishop of Milan Ambrose as a summer residence, at his death it was ceded to the monastery of Saint Ambrose with usufruct to his sister Marcellina, who retired to the cloistered life. Villa, monastery, then mansion and finally farmhouse, it was restored (along oratory annex) in 1953, for will of the family Cavajoni, that bought the complex after the religious orders' Napoleonic suppression. The last renovation was done in 1995 by a special purpose company by four local businessmen, who used the apartment buildings preserving and recovering as much as possible of the original architectural elements. Torazza Before the establishment of the municipality of Brugherio, in 1866, the town Torrazza belonged to Monza. Since the sixteenth century, the farm was isolated in the middle of the countryside owned by several noble families of Milan (first Marino, then Alari finally the Sormani-Andreani) and was inhabited exclusively by stewards and laborers who cultivated the land. With the passing of time the territory is urbanized and the area has been transformed into a residential neighborhood, changing the character of the farmhouse. In 1963 it was built some features townhouses, while stables and barns have been turned into garages. == Note ==